Earlier this month, the Pedro Arrupe Center for Business Ethics at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia hosted the CEO of a healthcare group that is reportedly responsible for the abortion of hundreds of children, according to the University’s website.

Main Line Health President and CEO Jack Lynch presented "Ethics in Healthcare Delivery," as part of the Arrupe Center Business Leaders Series. The discussion focused on the Affordable Care Act, the delivery of healthcare, and anticipated changes for hospitals and physicians.

According to The Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia, Lankenau and Bryn Mawr Hospitals which are run by Main Line Health performed more than 150 abortions between 2008 and 2012. In 2012, Byrn Mawr is charged with performing 22 abortions, and Lankenau with 25 abortions.

Despite being there to discuss the ethics of the Affordable Care Act, Lynch did not raise the issues of abortion being covered by the Act or the HHS mandate, which requires Catholic organizations to provide coverage of abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilization procedures. While many Catholic colleges have sued the Obama administration, calling the mandate an infringement of religious liberty, Saint Joseph’s University is not suing. In fact, no Jesuit institution is joining other Catholic colleges in their efforts to stop the mandate from being enforced.

Edel Finnegan, executive director of the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia, told The Cardinal Newman Society that they have attended Main Line Health’s open board meetings and urged them to adopt pro-life policies. Those requests have not yet altered the organization’s policy.

Finnegan said she wasn’t surprised that Saint Joseph’s would invite Lynch, but she said she was disturbed to hear that a lecture about the ethics of the Affordable Care Act at a Catholic university failed to raise the issue of abortion.

“If Saint Joseph’s University is a Catholic university, the Act’s impact on life should be part of that conversation,” she said. “Anytime we have an opportunity to advocate for life we should. If Saint Joseph’s would do that, the unborn would be better off.”

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